—Race calls: AP will make race calls during testing and on Election Night, unless they are too close to call. No races will be called before the 7:30 p.m. poll closing time. Race call alerts can be found on Webfeeds and on the print and broadcast wires, in the following format:

—Uncontested races: AP will not tabulate uncontested races. A list of the races, OH-Uncontested, will move to premium services subscribers at ftp://electionsonline.ap.org/OH/anpa/ and to state news and broadcast wires.

—Winners: AP will send a list of unofficial winners in called races at the end of its Election Night results tabulation. The winners list also will be sent during each test. Premium services subscribers will find OH- Winners at ftp://electionsonline.ap.org/OH/anpa/.

—End of Election Night results tabulation: AP will advise when it has concluded tabulating results in its Election Night reporting system, which is generally at 5 p.m. local time the day after the election.

ELECTION PROFILE

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were locked in a close race in the perennial battleground state where the economy was the top issue. Obama won Ohio by 5 percentage points in 2008, when pocketbook issues also were first on voters' minds. The candidates and their running mates campaigned often and advertised heavily in the state on themes that included trade, the auto industry bailout and taxes.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat running for a second term, was challenged by Republican state Treasurer Josh Mandel in a race that drew millions from outside interest groups.

ELECTION ANOMALIES

There are 24 counties with more than one Congressional District.

The state lost two Congressional seats after redistricting, and now has 16 seats. The redrawn congressional districts forced a contest between two incumbents in northeast Ohio, as third-term Democrat Betty Sutton challenged first-term Republican Jim Renacci. Longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur faced Republican Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber. He was put into the political spotlight after questioning Barack Obama about taxes during the 2008 presidential campaign.

TESTING SCHEDULE

—AP will test its reporting system beginning Monday, Oct. 1 and continue through Monday, Nov. 5, the day before Election Day. Testing will take place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during this time, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern.

—There will be a test transmission from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 6, Election Day, but it will only include zero vote totals.

—Precincts: Statewide and race-specific precinct totals used in initial testing are preliminary. AP will advise when precinct totals are updated and final for Election Night.

—Important note about AP WebFeeds: With the introduction of AP WebFeeds, it is imperative that customers validate the formatting of election tables sent to state and national newspaper wires during weekly tests. Direct questions to AP Customer Support at (877) 836-9477 or apcustomersupport(at)ap.org.

TESTING BASICS

—During the test period, it is vital to read daily testing advisories, which move to premium subscribers' FTP folders and to news and broadcast wire advisory queues. Advisories will note updates to tables, including changes to candidates, races, precinct totals, etc., and will indicate the test date when noted updates will appear. Databases can change up to Election Day.

—Capture each day's test during the test period, including the Monday test immediately preceding the Tuesday election. Ensure you have the latest updates and that tables include votes for every candidate in every race and that every race goes to 100 percent of precincts reporting, unless otherwise noted in an advisory.

—All tables are reported on every 5-7 minutes to digital services during testing and on Election Night.

—All tables will move to news and broadcast wires during each day's hour long test. Note that the frequency that reports run during tests may not reflect the Election Night schedule as detailed below. For example, county tables that Member Choice subscribers see during the hour long tests will move to that service only once after midnight on Election Night. Premium service subscribers should note the scheduled frequency of results that will move to their regular AP news and broadcast services, in addition to the results that will move to their FTP folders.

—Test table results have been created electronically to test the accuracy of the Election Night reporting system. They do not reflect an expectation of Election Night results. They should not be broadcast, published or replicated on websites.

—Direct questions about AP Elections Online delivery to AP Customer Support at (877) 836-9477 or apcustomersupport(at)ap.org. Documentation for the service also can be found at http://apdigitalsupport.ap.org.

—TV members should contact Regional Television Executive John Turell, at (202) 641-9043; or jturell(at)ap.org

—Large-market radio members should contact Sales Executive Chris Weis, at (312) 621-1798; or cweis(at)ap.org

—Small-market radio members should contact Sales Executive Vance Koretos, at (312) 621-8680; or vkoretos(at)ap.org

DEFINITIONS OF KEY WORDS IN SLUGS:

—"TopRaces-Glance-SumA" includes a statewide vote summary - giving the total number of precincts reporting, the candidates' names, their vote tallies and the percentage of the vote they have at that point - for these contested races: President, Senate, House 9 and House 16.

—"Contested" gives vote summaries by office type for these contested races: Congressional, state Senate and state House and ballot issues.

—"Cnty" gives vote totals by county for each candidate for these contested races: President, Senate and U.S. House.

—"Reg-Geo" gives vote totals by county for each candidate for president by geographic region.

—"Pres-CntyLong" gives vote summaries for each candidate for president in a county by county, long format.

—"Senate-CntyLong" gives vote summaries for each candidate for senate in a county by county, long format.

—"Trend" tables show whether Democrats or Republicans are gaining or losing seats in a state's Congressional delegation, the state Senate and the state House.

ELECTION NIGHT SLUGS BY SERVICE:

—Here are the slugs for results tables in the races AP will be tabulating and the approximate times they will be moving each hour to digital feeds and various news/broadcast wires after polls close election night:

Federal officials' review of the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old black man by a white police officer as he carried an air rifle in an Ohio Wal-Mart remains unfinished as his relatives plan a rally and vigil to mark one year since his death. Get the story.

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